Page 38 of Wish We Were There

“Yeah. I think so, too,” Kylie agreed, her smile faltering.

They sat in pensive silence for a moment. As if recognizing the lull, their waiter appeared once more, and this time they put in a food order after all. When he was gone, Kylie turned to Parker again, the same mischievous smile on her face.

“So when are you going to ask Taylor on a real date this time?” she prompted, and Parker flushed, laughing nervously.

“I, uh,” he stammered, still not quite sure. “Well, I’m taking him to a doctor’s appointment next week to finally get his cast off, so... Maybe after that.”

“I can’t believe he still has that on! Poor guy,” Angie exclaimed, shaking her head. “I hated that stupid boot I had to wear. He’s going to be so relieved once it’s finally off.”

Parker nodded, smiling weakly. “I think so, too. It’s been a long time coming.”

“I’d better hear good news from Taylor after his appointment, then,” Kylie said matter-of-factly, and Parker snorted with laughter. A terrible pressure in his chest had been lifted and drained away, leaving him light and airy now. It still made him nervous to think of really being with Taylor, but knowing how much everyone was rooting for him, for them, helped him feel more confident than he had before.

“You will. I promise,” he said softly, and she smiled approvingly.

“Great,” she said, and took another sip of her drink before adding, “Thanks for being such a good sport. Dinner’s on me, bud.”

Chapter Fifteen

Taylor

Then

“Hey, uh, can we talk?”

Taylor blinked, turning to face Zach, who was standing awkwardly in the open doorway of the music room. The other man had an obviously conflicted expression on his face, and he was tugging on a strand of his hair, a telltale sign he was nervous. Uncertainly, Taylor pulled his hands away from the keyboard and swiveled in his chair to face the other man fully.

“Sure,” he said, gesturing for Zach to come in. He stepped carefully into the room; it was somehow messier now with only Taylor’s things in it, compared to when it housed equipment belonging to both of them. Taylor had pulled out several of the keyboards that he’d previously had in storage, testing them to make sure they all still worked—half of them were still set up around the room, making the whole space a maze.

“What’s up?” Taylor prompted, after Zach stood there in the middle of the room for a long moment, his blue eyes lingering on the spot on the wall where one of his guitars had once been mounted.

“I wanted you to be the first to know,” Zach finally said, still not quite looking at him. “I mean, I know we agreed it was fine and all, but... Still. I didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else. But I’m, uh... I’ve been seeing someone. It hasn’t been super, like, serious, but we just decided to be exclusive, so... It might get more serious. And I wanted to make sure you knew.”

He finally looked at Taylor, meeting his eyes with apprehension. Taylor stared at him blankly for a long moment.

He was surprised, sure, but... It didn’t hurt. It didn’t make him sad, or upset, or jealous. Well, maybe a touch jealous—not for Zach, but for the fact that he’d been the first between them to find someone else. Mostly, he was curious about who this other person was, and... that was it.

The smile spreading across his face startled him into action, and he replied quickly, “Thanks for telling me. I’m happy for you.”

Zach returned the smile hesitantly. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Taylor replied, nodding. “And I appreciate the heads up, seriously. It’s better to hear it from you, for sure.”

Zach’s grin widened. “I figured. And I didn’t really think you’d be, you know, upset or anything, but I guess I was still... Nervous. To tell you. Is that weird?”

Taylor laughed, shaking his head. “No, that makes sense. But we’re good. No worries.”

Taylor was certain then that they weren’t in love anymore. He hadn’t really thought so for a while, but this only confirmed it. He was happy that his friend found someone who made him happy, with no desire to be that object of affection anymore. Once, he might have burned alive with jealousy at the thought of Zach with someone else, but now it was just... fine. Ambivalent.

It was a relief, in a strange way. A confirmation that they had made the right decision.

“So who is it? Anyone I know?” Taylor asked, making Zach chuckle and glance away shyly.

“Yeah, uh, do you remember Dean’s friend Rogelio?” he asked. “I’d been hanging out at Dean and Angie’s place more, and me and Rogelio kind of reconnected during a get-together they had, and... It just sort of snowballed from there.”

“Yeah, I remember him,” Taylor said, grinning. He’d only met Rogelio maybe two or three times, but he could vaguely recall the tall man with a narrow, angular face, short dark hair kept in a clean fade, and silver piercings in both ears and nostrils. He could certainly imagine the two of them together, a pair of lanky, handsome punk princes. The vision made him chuckle.

“You don’t have to answer, but have you been, you know, seeing anyone?” Zach asked, his tone careful now. Taylor hesitated, glancing away with some embarrassment.

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